Another shot from the archives, taken on 12 June 2013, on a drive SW of Calgary. The Mountain Bluebirds have arrived back in Alberta, but it will be a while before that have all built their nests and had their young. Last night, I was looking for a photo that had colour, to post this morning, and came across this one. Last summer, I took so many photos of Bluebirds, especially this pair, and have so far only posted very few. This female caught rather an interesting, fancy looking meal for her babies. I found it fascinating to see the different kinds of insects that they caught, and each time they returned with something new, they would perch on the barbed-wire fence near the nesting box and give me a few wonderful poses : )

In Bluebirds, the blue colour is produced by the structure of the feather - there is no blue pigment. "Tiny air pockets in the barbs of feathers can scatter incoming light, resulting in a specific, non-iridescent color. Blue colors in feathers are almost always produced in this manner. Examples include the blue feathers of Bluebirds, Indigo Buntings, Blue Jay's and Steller's Jays."

www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Mountain_Bluebird/id

www.jstor.org/discover/pgs/index?id=10.2307/4077277&i...